Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The USAToday story on the shrinking of income from wages and growth of government help [link] I clicked through from Insty is pretty much a standard report.

What was 'neat' about it is that the USAToday actually used the word liberal in from of a left-leaning economist (instead only putting conservative in front of the right-leaning ones and leaving off the dreaded 'liberal' moniker). It also showed the distinct points of view of a left, (somewhat) center and right :

The shift in income shows that the federal government's stimulus efforts have been effective, says Paul Van de Water, an economist at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"It's the system working as it should," Van de Water says. Government is stimulating growth and helping people in need, he says. As the economy recovers, private wages will rebound, he says.

Economist Veronique de Rugy of the free-market Mercatus Center at George Mason University says the riots in Greece over cutting benefits to close a huge budget deficit are a warning about unsustainable income programs.

Economist David Henderson of the conservative Hoover Institution says a shift from private wages to government benefits saps the economy of dynamism. "People are paid for being rather than for producing," he says.

Liberal: Government is the saviour
Center: Government should watch out for the people
Right: Government should get out of the way